User talk:Starcat

Hi, I'm a very old newbie to this stuff, but gentle critisism is welcome. I've got questions...about a lot of things. First off, at the time of Temeraire and Laurence, they (the scientists) have begun to classify and codify as many of the animals & plants that they could get there hands on. Since dragons have six limbs and not the standard four, will they be in a sub-species by themselves? Will some on determine that the Sea Serpent from ToJ is part of the proto-species of dragon? Is it like the coeleocanth (you know, big fish thought to be extinct for a while)?

And what about bone structure? Bird bones are semi-hollow to provide not only lightness of structure, but there form allow hidden strength to the bone. (It was explained in a book I read as to why pteresaurs are flying animals.)

Not necessarily the last thing on my list of questions is the dragons in America. Do we have so few in the Eastern part of the continent because there are so few hot or warm springs here? East of the Mississippi River there are only 34 spring listed by at the www.ngdc.noaa.gov website, and only 17 in states lands settled by Europeans by 1805. I also wonder if we will find dragons with similar abilities to the Celestials if the Thunderbirds of Native American legend came from some of the same stock as the oriental dragons. According to one description these creatures "caused the earth to shake and lightening to strike."

I'll save questions as to how Temeraire might react to meeting some of the Founding Fathers, who are still alive and active in government. (James Madison is the president at the time of the War of 1812.) Or will the discussion on slavery lead Temmer to form a Dragon Suffrag organization. (The American Women were the first to do it, but not until the 1840's, when Laurence is in his 60's). And don't even make me think of the fiction that will come from this - a combination of Uncle Tom's Cabin and Black Beauty perhaps.

Wacky ideas and responses always welcome. Thanks for reading.

Some Speculation on your Questions

I think dragons and sea serpents would be their own Class (several levels higher than species) because of their 6 limbs, with true dragons being one order and the sea serpents being another. Not sure if dragons have more than one Family since they seem to crossbreed often. So maybe family, genus and species are all the same for dragons like for dogs. Your guess is as good as mine. :) Wikipedia Scientific Classification since I had to look it up.

I think in ToJ they mentioned that sea serpents were seen fairly regularly in the South China Sea and North Atlantic but of much smaller size. Under 20 feet is what I remember. So I don't think they are a proto-species, just a different one (or order, depends on where we want to draw the line).

The Regal Coppers are mentioned as having air sacks that help them fly, which would make them more bird-like than not. I think hollow bones are a good bet for creatures of such size. Pterosaur wings also have a different structure than bat wings. Bat wings are just skin stretched between the fingers, but some Pterosaur wing fossils have been found with rod-like structures in the wing material, sort of like... the wavy inner layer of corrugated cardboard. Makes it stiff in one direction but flexible in the other. Ever since I read about that, that's how I imagined dragon wings working.

That's an interesting idea on the number of dragons in America. Their eggs are usually kept in warm places (the two described have been warm and wet. Does it have to be wet? Or can it just be warm? If just warm is an option, then the desert Southwest is going to be full of dragons.) Maybe food is a limiting factor and once the Great Plains are explored they will find huge Bison eating flights of dragons. Thunderbird dragons would be really cool. I think they might look like native art of the Pacific Northwest with bold designs in red, black and white. I'd draw one if I wasn't so sick of drawing dragons. ;)

Dragon Suffrage. . . I'd never thought of that particular combination of books but it certainly fits. And Temeraire is certainly already headed down that path!